The Perfect Start

You accepted the offer, transitioned out of your previous role and, now finally, it is time to start the new job. Filled with anticipation, optimism, enthusiasm and maybe a few jitters, you arrive at your new place of employment determined to make a strong, immediate impact. However, before diving right in and shaking things up (unless you are in the rare position of having been hired to do so), take care of the administrative details associated with your new job, spend time learning how the office works (equipment, IT, personnel, politics), and then, given the circumstances, determine how to be most effective in your new job. Follow these guidelines to get off to a perfect start.

ADMINISTRATIVE

Make sure to confirm with your hiring manager or HR contact when to show up on your first day, who to look for and what kind of documentation to bring. More than likely you will spend your first hour or two filling out paperwork such as an employment form for which you probably want to be prepared to list prior jobs, including appropriate contacts, phone numbers and addresses. Additionally, you will want to make sure to bring personal identification to comply with employment laws. Normally two forms of official ID (e.g., driver’s license, birth certificate) or just a passport will suffice. You will also need to fill out a tax withholding form and, if applicable, a direct deposit form (for which you will want to bring a blank check). Oftentimes, you will be asked to sign a form acknowledging that you have received and/or read an employee handbook as well. Likely, there will be forms for healthcare and 401(k) plans in addition. Come prepared and get all of the administrative, easy stuff out of the way as soon as possible so you can focus on weightier matters.

UNDERSTAND THE IT SYSTEM

The next step in your transition is to figure out how the office IT system functions. Can you log into the server from outside the office? Is the office culture such that you should save certain files on a shared drive? Does the office have wireless internet access and do you need a password? Are all of the correct printers and scanners installed on your computer? These are just some of the computer issues you will want to figure out right away preferably with the help of someone from the IT department or whoever the resident office techie is.

You will also want to get a handle on how your office phone system works from the standpoint of voicemail, call forwarding, conference calls, speakerphone, checking messages from outside the office, etc. Not as simple and self-explanatory as it may seem given the complexity of modern-day office phone systems. The good news is that once set up, they are generally extremely convenient and intuitive.

OFFICE CULTURE

Understand the culture of your new work environment and adapt. What time do people get in and what time do they leave? Are you expected to work weekends? Be available by phone and e-mail at all hours? Is it okay to leave to coach your son’s baseball game at 3:00 PM? Alcohol friendly, or not? Ideally you would have understood a lot of this before starting the job, but it is impossible to completely comprehend an office culture without being immersed in it. Figure it out and adapt. If you don’t fit with the culture, you could be jeopardizing your effectiveness and prospects for upward mobility. If trying to fit the culture makes you miserable, you should start to look elsewhere for a new job!

SUPPORT STAFF

This section deals with non-professional support and administrative staff – the people who can make your life a lot easier. Figure out who to go to for what – office supplies, IT issues, travel requests, better chairs, etc. As a general rule, treat everyone with courtesy, respect, generosity and kindness from day one, and forever thereafter, and you will find that your requests will be attended to faster and often exceed your expectations. You’ll get the best chairs, keyboards, pens, snacks and on and on and on. It’s amazing how so many people have a problem with treating support staff with respect, thereby inadvertently compromising their day-to-day happiness.

OFFICE POLITICS

As a new employee, you will want to get a handle on the office politics and power structure as soon as possible. Be polite in responding to requests for lunch, entreaties for water cooler conversations and invites to out of office events. However, in the early days of your new job, do not be overeager in attaching yourself to anyone. Take some time to figure out who you naturally click with, who you should avoid and who holds the reins of power (oftentimes this might not be evident strictly by looking at a org chart). Resist the urge to latch onto someone until you understand the pieces on the chessboard. This is not to say that you should be completely calculating in developing your interpersonal office relationships, but rather, approach these relationships with your eyes wide open so that you don’t unwittingly become associated with someone early on who might be detrimental to your success – success is the goal after all, not friendships (although these can be welcome byproducts of your job). It has been my experience that observing the social structure of the office early on (rather than rushing headfirst into trying to make connections), treating everyone with respect and focusing on your job are the keys to building high quality, effective relationships with the people that matter.

JOB TASKS

You were brought in to do a job so now it’s time to perform. The presumption is that if you were hired for a particular job you are able to do it, but in going about doing so, try to do so in a way that fits the way things are done in your new organization – at least in the beginning. Similar to the advice about observing who the players are before rushing in to develop relationships, understand the way things are done before you go changing everything around. Take time to do it their way while slowly introducing new ways of doing things if you determine in your best judgment that their is a better way. By coming in and immediately doing things your way and rocking the boat, you will likely create enemies and breed resentment, and you also run the risk of being wrong due to not fully understanding how something works. Try to get a good handle on the way the procedures and processes work and then introduce change. Evolutionary changes are often more impactful and lasting than jarring ones (unless they are clearly superior). Significant changes often meet stiff resistance before implementation due to people feeling threatened for various reasons including loss of responsibility.

By observing the guidelines outlined above, you will be well on your way to a perfect start in your new job. Take it from someone who has been there many times before.


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